Smudge pot igniter



Aug. 30, 1949.

s. R. CROCKETT SMUDGE POT IGNITER Filed Dec. 28, 1946 Ihmcntor mm R mac/r51- (Iltomcgl Patented Aug. 30, 1949 UNITED- STATES PATENT OFFICE SMUDGE POT IGNITER Sydney R- Crockett. Ereeport,. N. Y'.,. assignor to Cyril Charles Crockett, Glendale, Calif.

Application'December 28, 13445., SerlaLNo. 1119,0917

13. Claims ture in citrus fruit groves. are too. well known.

to: require any extended explanation. Sov far as I know the ignition or lighting of smudge pots requires much manual, labor and constantv-igilance in observing atmospheric temperature changes inorder that: the smudge pots may be ignited at the proper timeto save the crop.

The invention is embodied. in a smudge pot; igniter in which a flame is produced, automatical ly in order to ignite the wick in the smudge pot, The flamev results from. the coaction of certain chemicals, which arebrought together in a cartridge which is inserted in. the. smudge pot. in contact with the wick therein. Certain chem.- dcals, for example, chromic anhydride, iodine crystals. and. potassium nitrate are. compounded to form an ignition tablet which. is placed in. cartridge on a porous ceramic base. When the temperature in the field is lowered. below a selected. critical point, another chemical, for ex: ample, isopropyl' alcohol, is brought into. contact with the said tablet with the result that an in.- stantaneous flame is produced which will. continue to burn. as long as the alcohol capacity lasts. The flame ignites the oil wick in the. smudge pot to produce a smudge fire.

An. important featutre of the invention is a temperature controlled valve mechanism which. is normally closed to out 01f the supply of, alcohol from reaching the cartridge tablet. The valve mechanism. is arranged to open when a given low temperature is reached. The valve mechanism has two main parts, namely a spring closed valve which is movable in one direction due to the contraction. of the isopropyl alcohol below a given temperature. and valve releasing means which is movable in the opposite direction due to the expansion of distilled. water. When the two parts of the valve mechanism meet, the, valve is opened and the alcohol then flows to contact the chemical ignitiontablete I The alcohol is contained. in an expansion tube and as the tube expands and contracts thevalve which is secured to the tube moves therewith. Likewise, distilled water is contained in a sealed tube capable of expansion and contraction and the valve releasing means which is secured to the water tube moves therewith.

The, detailed description. of the igniter according to this invention is set forth in the. following specification and illustrated in the. accompanying drawing in which v as Fig. l. is. a. sketch; illustrating. the use of the. invention.

Fig- 2 is a central vertical. sectional view through the igniter, with parts broken away.

Fig. 3isan outside view with parts removed.

Fig. 4; is a cross sectional view of. the igniter taken on the line 4-4 0t Fig. 2.

Fig. 51 is a top plan view.

Referring firstto Fig. 1, thereference numeral; It denotes the valve operating unit. The nu-: meral 1 marks. the valve unit and the numeral. 8 denotes; the igniter cartridge. The latter is inserted. within the smudge not 9 to. ignite the, wick it therein, and the wick in turn ignites. the oil II. A clip l2 or other suitable means may be used tosupport the device on the. smudge pot.

Referring now to Fig. 2, the valve operating 6 consists of anexpansion tube l3 secured. at the top to a disk I4. having a key l5. The bottom. of. the tube. I3 is. open. and carries a nipple. l5. to which is. attached a capillary valve tube. [6 of special neoprene rubber, or other suitable. valve material. To the bottom of the rubber tube therev attached a bendable'pipe I]. The rubber tube acts as. a valve. and is shown collapsed. as at 18; by means of springs 19,19 which.v

extend downward from a spring member 20.

The outer endoi the pipe. ll carries a threaded coupling 2t forsecuring the igniter cartridge to the pipe. 'I'he'cartridge contains an igniter tablet 22 consisting. of. certain. compounded chemicals, for example, parts of chromic anhydride, 20 parts of iodine crystals and 5 parts. of potassium. nitrate This compound has thev property of producingv a flame when, contacted by isopropyl alcohol which. is. contained. within the tube l3. The compound is contained within a porous ceramic base or. cup 23 from which a nipple 24 may project to be. securedby the coupling 21 to thefpipe [1. There is an air space 25 between the tablet. 22. and the ceramic base and the nipple 24 has openings 26 providing, communication be-..

At the top thetuhe 30 carries a. cover 34. which 3 is rotatable upon the disk It and suitably retained thereupon. The cover 34 has an opening 35 through which the key l5 projects. The cover 34 has two stops 36 and 31, see Fig. 5.

The bottom of the tube 38 carries a valve release casing 38 which surrounds the springs I9. The ends of the springs engage the inner wall of the casing under spring pressure. A spring tension adjusting nut 40 is screwed into the valve casing and the ends of the springs rest upon the upper edge of the nut as shown. The valve release casing 38 has two openings 42, 42 which are normally in vertical alinement with the springs [9. However, by turning the tube I3 by means of the key l5 from the on position against the stop 36 to the ofi position against the stop 31, the springs i9 and the openings 42 are no longer alined vertically.

The two tubes l3 and are capable of expansion and contraction at atmospheric conditions. They are of very thin metal, approximately .005 inch thick and are therefore illustrated by a single line, not sectioned. They have an expansion quality consistently uniform over a given linear measurement. The corrugations are very large in proportion to the lengths of the tubes. The tube 30 is filled with highly distilled water under pressure and is then sealed. The tube I3 is filled with isopropyl alcohol under about three pounds pressure. The cubic capacity of the tube 13 is approximately three quarters of the capacity of the tube 30 because the coefficient of expansion of isopropyl alcohol is approximately one and one half times greater than that of Water.

Throughout a temperature range of plus 150 degrees F. to minus 45 degrees F., isoprop l alcohol has a consistent and uniform curve as far as the expansion and contraction characteristics thereof are concerned. Isopropyl alcohol expands .00109 cubic centimeter per degree temperature change using as a basic measure one cubic centimeter. Water has a uniform expansion and contraction curve from plus 150 degrees F. and until it reaches plus 39.2 degrees F. At this point water has the unusual characteristic of expansion at the rate of .00002 cubic centimeter per one degree F. minus. At 32 degrees F. zero centigrade, water has expanded .00014 cubic centimeter for every cubic centimeter of water within the tube 30. At the critical point of 39.2 degrees F. the tube l3 which contains the isopropyl alcohol continues to contract below this temperature and the tube 39 which contains distilled water continues to expand. The lower ends of the two tubes therefore move in opposite directions with relation to one another and these movements are utilized to operate the valve.

At any given temperature below 39.2 degrees F. the valve l6 with the valve closing springs l9 moves upward, whereas the valve release casing 38 with the openings 42 moves downward. As a result of these two opposed movements, the springs and the openings will become horizontally aligned. The springs will snap outward through the openings and the valve It will open, the neoprene rubber tube tending to assume its normal tubular form. By adjusting the nut the said two valve elements may be caused to meet at any given temperature at which the valve is to be opened. As a result, the isopropyl alcohol will flow out through the pipe H under pressure into contact with the ignition tablet 22 and the resulting flame will be produced to ignite the smudge pot as will be understood.

When the alcohol reaches the tablet and spreads over the highly evaporative porous ceramic base an instantaneous flame results from the chemical reaction between the isopropyl alcohol and the compounded chemical tablet. The flame will continue to burn as long as the alcohol capacity lasts. The ignited alcohol will be dispersed over the oil saturated wick in the smudge pot and the oil therein will be ignited to produce a smudge fire.

During transport or storage the key l5 will be turned to o position to prevent opening of the valve. The key will be turned to on position when the igniter is attached to the smudge pot. The igniter cartridge is inserted within the pot in close contact with the oil wick. The bendable pipe I! facilitates the work of attaching the igniter and pressing the cartridge into contact with the wick. A clip or wire I2 or any other suitable means may be used to attach the igniter to the pot.

While the igniter is attached to the smudge pot, the two expansion tubes l3 and 30 will continue to expand and contract in response to at mospheric temperature variations and the bottoms of the tubes will move in the same general direction toward the cartridge. When a predetermined critical degree of temperature is reached, the two tubes will have expanded and contracted, respectively, to such an extent that the valve opens automatically. The cartridge becomes a ball of fire and is eventually consumed.

The use of the igniter according to this invention relieves the farmer from the tedious job of watching the temperature and the manual labor of lighting the smudge pots. The chemicals named above, their proportions and properties are by way of example only and not to be taken as limitations in the scope of this inven- I claim:

1. A smudge pot igniter comprising a cartridge for igniting the wick in a smudge pot, said cartridge containing a chemical compound capable of producing a flame by contact with isopropyl alcohol, an expansion tube containing isopropyl alcohol, one end of said tube being closed, a sealed expansion tube containing distilled water, means connecting and supporting said tubes at one end thereof to afford individual expansion and contraction at the opposite ends of said tubes, a valve secured to the open end of said isopropyl alcohol tube and movable with said tube as it expands and contracts, means on said valve for normally closing the same, an alcohol conducting pipe connected between said valve and said cartridge compound, valve releasing means secured to said sealed water tube to move therewith as said water tube expands and contracts, said tubes being capable of expansion and contraction in response to atmospheric temperature, means for supporting said valve releasing means in spaced relation to the valve closing means to prevent opening of the valve during expansion and contraction of the said two tubes above a predetermined temperature, said valve closing and valve releasing means being brought into valve opening relation to open the valve by the relative contraction and expansion of said expansion tubes when said predetermined temperature has been reached and the isopropyl alcohol is to be conducted to the chemical compound in the said cartridge to pot.

'5 2. A chemical-compound according to claim 1' consisting of chromio anhydri'de, iodine crystals and potassium nitrateapproximately the proportions of 55 parts anhydride, 20 parts iodine crystals and 5 parts of potassium initrate.

3. An automatic liquid discharge device com prising: a pair of resilient expansible shells secured together at one end;'a body" of liquid substantially entirely filling each-"shell, at least one of said liquid bodies maintaining the containing shell tensioned, said liquids'having' different coeflicients of expansion; said containing shell having an outlet; valve means carried by said shell at the unsecured end, controlling. said outlet, and having a. control member; and an operating member carried by the unsecured end of the other shell, normally maintaining said control member in outlet closing position, and operatin said control member to open the outlet upon relative movement between said members. caused by a change in volume or the. said liquids responsive to a predetermined ambient temperature.

4. An automatic liquid discharge device com prising: a pair of resilient expansible shells. secured together at one end; a body of liquid substantially entirely filling each shell, atleast one of said liquid bodies maintaining the containing shell tensioned; said containing shell. having'an outlet; one of said liquids having a volume varying consistently with temperature, the other liquid having a volume increasing with falling. temperature over a limited range; valve means carried by said shell at the unsecured end; controlling said outlet and having acontrol member;

and an operating member carried by the unsecured end of the other shell, normally maintaining said eontrcl member in outlet closing position, and operating said control member to open the outletupon relative movement between said members caused by a change in volume of the said liquids responsive to a predetermined ambient temperature.

' 5. An automatic liquid discharge device com prising apair of resilient expansible shells secured together at one end; a body of liquid substantially entirely filling each shell, at least one of said liquid bodies maintaining the containing shell tensioned; said containing shell having an outlet; said liquids havingeiflerent coefiicients of expansion; valve means carried by said shell at the unsecured end, controlling said outlet and having a control member; an. operating member carried by the unsecured end of the other shell, normally maintaining said control member in outlet closing position, and operating said control memherto open the outlet upon relative. move ment between said. members caused by a change in: volume of the said. liquids responsive to: apieeletermined. ambient temperatur and means for adjusting the relative positions of said members to alter the temperature at which said outlet is opened,

6. An automatic liquid discharge device comprising: a pair of resilient expansible shells secured together at one end; a body of liquid sub stantially entirely filling each shell, at least one of said liquid bodies maintaining the containing shell tensioned; said containing shell having an outlet; one of said liquids having a volume varying consistently with temperature, the other liquid having .a volume increasing with falling temperature over a limited range; valve means carried by said shell at the unsecured end, controlling the outlet and having a control member;

an operating member carried by the unsecured; end'of the other shell, normally maintaining said control member in outlet closing position, and operating said control member to open the outlet upon relativemovement between said members caused by a change in volume of the said liquids responsive to a predetermined low temperature; and means for adjusting the relative positions of said members to alter the temperature at which said outlet is opened.

7. An autorrm-tie liquid discharge device comprising: a pair of resilient expansible shells secured together at one end; a body of liquid substantiallyentirely filling each shell, at least one of said liquidbodies maintaining the containing shell tensioned; said containing shell having an out-- let; said liquids having different coefiecients of expansion; valve means carried by said shell at the meseoured end, con rolling the outlet and having a control member; an operating member c rried' by the unsecured end of the other shell, normally maintaining said control member in outlet closing position, and operating said control member to open the outlet upon relative movement between said members caused by a change in volume of thcsaid liquids responsive to a predetermined ambient temperature; and means for optionally restricting relative movement between the members to prevent opening of said outlet.

8. An automatic liquid discharge device comprising? a pair of resilient expansible shells se-- cured together at one end; a body of liquid substantially entirely filling each shell, at least one of said liquid bodies maintaining the containing shell'tensioned; said containing shell having an outlet; one of said liquids having a volume varying consistently with temperature, the other liquid having a volume increasing with falling temperature over a limited range; valve means carried by said shell at the unsecured end, controlling the outlet and having a control member; an operating member carried by the unsecured end of the other shell, normally maintaining said. control member in outlet closing position, and operating said control member to open the out-- le't, upon relative movement between said members caused by a change in volume of the said liquids responsive to a predetermined low ternperature; and means for optionally restricting. relative movement between the members to prevent opening of said outlet. 7

'9. An automatic liquid discharge device com.- prising." a pair of resilient expansible shells secured together at one end; a body of liquid substantially entirely filling each shell, at least one of said liquid bodies maintaining the containing shell'tensioned', said containing shell having an outlet; said liquids having different coeflicients of expansion; valve means carried by said shell.

atthe unsecured end, controlling the outlet and having a control member; an operating member carried by the unsecured end of the other shell, normally maintaining said control member in outlet closing position, and operating said control member to open the outlet upon relative movement between said members caused by a change in volume of the said liquids responsive to a predetermined low temperature; means for adjusting the relative positions of said members to alter the temperature at which said outlet is opened; and means for optionally restricting .relative movement between the members to prevent opening of said outlet.

10. An automatic igniter comprising a pair of resilient expansible shells; a body of liquid substantially entirely filling each shell, at least one of said liquid bodies maintaining the associated shell tensioned, said liquid body having a volume varying consistently with temperature throughout the range of operation of the igniter, the other body having a volume varying consistently with temperature only through a portion of said range; means connected to move with the end of one shell forming a valved outlet therefrom, comprising a spring finger for controlling the outlet, having an operating projection; a member connected to move with the end of the other shell; means joining the opposite ends of the shells against relative movement, said member normally engaging said projection and tensioning said finger to maintain the outlet closed, said member having an opening adapted to receive said projection and release said finger to cause opening of said outlet; the volumes of said liquids at a predetermined temperature being such as to position said projection to enter said opening, and cause the outlet to open; and means whereby said liquid when released produces flame.

11. An automatic igniter comprising a pair of resilient expansible shells; a body of liquid substantially entirely filling each shell, at least one of said liquid bodies maintaining the associated shell tensioned, said liquid body having a volume varying consistently with temperature throughout the range of operation of the igniter, the other body having a volume varying consistently with temperature only through a portion of said range; means connected to move with the end of one shell forming a valved outlet therefrom, comprising a spring finger for controlling the outlet, having an operating projection; a member connected to move with the end of the other shell; means joining the opposite ends of the shells against relative movement, said member normally engaging said projection and tensioning said finger to maintain the outlet closed, said member having an opening adapted to receive said projection and release said finger to cause opening of said outlet; the volumes of said liquids at a predetermined temperature being such as to position said projection to enter said opening andcause the outlet to open; means for adjusting the relative positions of said member and said finger to cause said projection to enter said opening at a different temperature; and means whereby said liquid when released produces flame.

12. An automatic igniter comprising a pair of resilient expansible shells; a body of liquid substantially entirely filling each shell, at least one of said liquid bodies maintaining the associated shell tensioned, said liquid body having a vol,- ume varying consistently with temperature throughout the range of operation of the igniter, the other body having a volume varying consistently with temperature only through a portion of said range; means connected to move with the end of one shell forming a valved outlet therefrom, comprising a spring finger for controlling,

the outlet, having an operating projection; a member connected to move with the end of the other shell; means joining the opposite ends of the shells against relative movement, said member normally engaging said projection and tensioning said finger to maintain the outlet closed, said member having an opening adapted to receive said projection and release said finger to cause opening of said outlet; the volumes of said liquids at a predetermined temperature being such as to position said projection to enter said opening and cause the outlet to open; means for adjusting the-relative positions of said member and said finger to misalign said opening and said projection to prevent opening of the outlet; and means whereby said liquid when released produces flame.

13. An automatic igniter comprising a pair of resilient expansible shells; a body of liquid substantially entirely filling each shell at least one of said liquid bodies maintaining the associated shell tensioned, said liquid body having a volume varying consistently with temperature throughout the range of operation of the igniter, the other body having a volume varying consistently with temperature only through a portion of said range; means connected to move with the end of one shell forming a valved outlet therefrom, comprising a spring finger for controlling the outlet, having an operating projection; a member connected to move with the end of the other shell; means joining the opposite ends of the shells against relative movement, said member normally engaging said projection and tensioning said finger to maintain the outlet closed, said member having an opening adapted to receive said projection and release said finger to cause opening of said outlet; the volumes of said liquids at a predetermined temperature being such as to position said projection to enter said opening and cause the outlet to open; means for adjusting the relative positions of said member and said finger in one direction to alter the temperature at which the outlet is opened, and in a direction transverse thereto to prevent opening of the outlet; and means whereby said liquid when released produces flame.

SYDNEY R. CROCKETT.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,289,963 Thomson Dec. 31, 1918 1,328,788 Bray Jan. 20, 1920 2,052,925 Fernandez Sept. 1, 1936 

